FAI chief contacting politicians a ‘dangerous precedent’

Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney has been accused by a Fine Gael TD of setting a "very dangerous precedent" by contacting politicians ahead of a decision on whether he should be asked to appear before an Oireachtas committee.

The Oireachtas Transport Committee discussed whether to invite Mr Delaney to attend a meeting to answer questions about the €5 million payment the FAI received from Fifa, the world football governing body.

The committee voted against asking Mr Delaney to attend when Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, one Independent TD and one Fine Gael Senator, Eamonn Coghlan, rejected the idea.

At yesterday’s meeting Brendan Griffin (FG) said Mr Delaney had set a “very dangerous precedent” by ringing committee members in advance of a decision. The decision not to invite him to attend created a perception that if you were “buddies” with enough TDs you could “get off”.

Independent TD Tom Fleming said it was in the public’s interest to hear from Mr Delaney. He said the chief executive was earning significant amounts of money and should be subjected to the same scrutiny and accountability as anyone else.

Reputational damage

Labour TD Sean Kenny said: “Everybody was of the view that we didn’t want to cause reputational damage to the FAI or to John Delaney personally.

"We want to get the matter discussed, though. It was a matter of public concern. It is also a matter of international concern. It is now being raised in other countries – how come Ireland got this money?"

The controversy surrounds a €5 million payment made by Fifa to the FAI after Ireland's failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals when eliminated by France in a play-off match following a controversial handball by Thierry Henry.